EALLIN Workshop Announced for Yakutsk, March 14-18

This international workshop is part of the EALLIN project, a project which has been endorsed by the Arctic Council under the Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG). Entitled EALLIN: Reindeer Herding and Youth, the workshop is supported by the Government of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the UNESCO Office in Moscow, which is leading the international project “The network system of open resources of traditional indigenous knowledge to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the polar regions.” Participants will include scientists and experts in the field of traditional knowledge, natural resources and environment, reindeer herders, representatives of indigenous peoples, executive and legislative authorities, NGOs and the media. The workshop will be held hand in hand with the UNESCO workshop and the celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the famous reindeer herder Il’ya Spiridonov.

The main purpose of the EALLIN project is to maintain and further develop a sustainable reindeer husbandry in the Arctic, working towards a vision of creating a better life for circumpolar reindeer herders. The project will work towards knowledge building and experience exchanges in and between local reindeer herding societies in the Arctic, with an emphasis on youth. To this end the project will focus on youth involvement, place-based workshops, local capacity building, new technology implementation, networking, dialogue between herders and industry, as well as circumpolar co-production of video and multimedia by youth.

EALLIN aims to investigate how the latest scientific data and experiences on land use change combined with traditional knowledge can be used to develop a deeper understanding of global changes in the Arctic and facilitate a dialogue between developers and indigenous peoples.

EALLIN will also seek to adopt new information and communication technologies, facilitating more regular dialogue and exchange between young reindeer herders normally separated by vast Arctic distances. This will include efforts of testing and adapting existing technology solutions (ie. Virtual Learning Tools, Reindeer Portal, GIS, satellite communications, hand held digital devices and more). This part of the project will be implemented together with Arctic Portal, Iceland and other partners. The end goal is to find ways to improve the lives and collective futures of young circumpolar reindeer herders and their communities.